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Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he was born in Florida, MO, on Nov. 30, 1835, and he died on Apr. 21, 1910.Through this pen name he achieved worldwide fame during his lifetime as an author, lecturer, satirist, and humorist. Since his death ....

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.... under various pseudonyms. After a visit to New Orleans in 1857, he learned the difficult art of steamboat piloting, an occupation that he followed until the Civil War closed the river, and that furnished the background for "Old Times on the Mississippi" (1875), later included in the expanded Life on the Mississippi (1883). In 1861, Twain traveled by stagecoach to Carson City, Nev., with his brother Orion, who had been appointed territorial secretary. After unsuccessful attempts at silver and gold mining, he returned to writing as a correspondent for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. At first he signed his humorous and imaginative ske ....